The Last Living Pontiac Club de Mer: Replica and Quarter-Scale Model Survive

Chrome Phantom - Back in the golden age of American car design, the 1950s were more than just tailfins and chrome. They were about imagination, experimentation, and the fearless pursuit of what the future of driving could look like. Concept cars weren’t simply machines; they were rolling dreams, often built not to hit the streets but to spark ideas and capture the public’s imagination. 

The 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer Concept is said the perfect setting for its resort club image. (Picture from: CarDesignNews)

Among the many futuristic creations of that era, one stood out for its daring proportions and jet-inspired styling: the Pontiac Club de Mer. Unveiled in 1956 at General Motors’ Motorama show, the Club de Mer looked more like a futuristic spacecraft than a car you might see at a diner. It was the brainchild of Harley Earl, GM’s legendary design chief, with Pontiac’s Paul Gillian bringing Earl’s bold vision to life. 

The 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer (front) sat along with the Oldsmobile Golden Rocket at the 1956 Motorama. (Picture from: CarDesignNews)

The concept was daring yet elegant: a sleek two-seater roadster inspired by supersonic fighter jets, featuring a stainless steel body, twin windscreens reminiscent of the 1955 Lincoln Futura (later the TV Batmobile), concealed headlights, and a striking dorsal fin cutting across the rear deck. Standing just under 39 inches tall, the car hugged the ground, its smooth, low-profile body giving the impression it could glide even while at rest. 

The Pontiac Club de Mer published on the 1956 GM Motorama's brochures. (Picture from: AMKlassiek)

Inside, the Club de Mer was stripped down compared to its futuristic skin but still had a flair for style. Red upholstery framed a cockpit that placed function over excess. A three-spoke GT-style steering wheel anchored the dash, with triangularly grouped gauges giving the driver just what was needed and nothing more. It was minimalism with a touch of showmanship—enough to make anyone sitting inside feel like they were piloting something ahead of its time.

Apart from the full-scale replica, the only other surviving piece of the 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer Concept is a quarter-scale model, which passed through several collectors before selling at auction in 2007 for $75,000. (Picture from: PlasticModelCars in Facebook)

Despite its daring design, GM never intended the Club de Mer for production. Like many Motorama concepts, it was built as a rolling prototype, a showpiece rather than a showroom car. Only one full-scale version and a quarter-scale model were ever made. The life-size prototype toured briefly before GM scrapped it in 1958, part of the company’s standard practice of recycling concept vehicles once their usefulness was over. The small-scale version, however, survived, changing hands between collectors before eventually selling at auction in 2007 for $75,000.

The 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer concept car (in pictured replica model by Marty Martino) launched for the first time to public at the GM's Motorama Show. (Picture from: Carscoops)

Yet the story of the Club de Mer didn’t simply fade away with the passing of time. Decades later, the car’s futuristic vision caught the attention of custom builder Marty Martino, a man known for bringing lost automotive dreams back to life. He believed the Club de Mer deserved more than just a place in the archives of forgotten prototypes—it deserved to exist as a real, working machine that could be admired not only for its looks but also for its engineering.

This reproduction version of 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer Concept's interior is faithful insisted to the original design. (Picture from: CarDesignNews)

In the early 2000s, Martino began an ambitious project that would take three years to complete. Starting with a 1959 Pontiac chassis, he painstakingly recreated the sleek bodywork while ensuring the car could actually run. Under the hood, he installed a Pontiac Strato Streak engine paired with a Jetaway Hydro-Matic 4-speed transmission, giving the replica both the presence and performance that the original concept never fully realized.

The 1956 Pontiac Club de Mer concept (in pictured replica model by Marty Martino) was inspired by contemporary aircraft designs at the time. (Picture from: AMKlassiek)

Unlike the 1956 prototype, which remained little more than a rolling display piece, Martino’s version was designed to be driven. It wasn’t just a tribute—it was a fully functional interpretation of Pontiac’s forgotten vision, blending authenticity with practicality. When it finally appeared at auction in 2009, the replica drew considerable attention and sold for $110,000, showing that the fascination surrounding the Club de Mer was far from extinguished.

Today, only Martino’s replica and the surviving quarter-scale model remain as lasting symbols of Pontiac’s daring experiment with futuristic design. Though the original was lost to history, the car’s legacy continues to echo through these rare survivors. Nearly seventy years after its debut, the Club de Mer still stirs the imagination, reminding us of a time when automakers were unafraid to dream boldly, challenge conventions, and craft machines that looked as if they had come straight from tomorrow. *** [EKA [15092020][24092022] | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | BARRET-JACKSON | WIKIPEDIA | CARSCOOPS  | AMKLASSIEK | PLASTIC MODEL CARS IN FACEBOOK ]

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